Brilliantly cerebral sci-fi

A truly intelligent, complex and brilliant book, yet also mind-bendingly confusing.

Before I go any further, let me state that you have to have read the previous 2 books to fully understand this one. So if you haven't, then go back and read them first before purchasing this.

Let me also warn you that in the interest of clarity for other readers, my review is full of spoilers - so you won't have to go back and listen to the whole thing again like I did, because it only becomes clear right at the end what the hell is going on!

You also need to swallow a scientific dictionary in order to understand Tchaikovsky's complex and genius level text, as phrases such as "An ontogeny that recapitulated their personal philogeny" are liberally sprinkled throughout the book.

Come back when you're ready.

This story stretches the boundaries of possibility in a rather delightfully intriguing way, all backed up by intensive research into not just advanced sci-fi technology, but also the secret life of spiders, octopi and birds... not to mention the protozoan parasite. That's the fun bit. The rest of it is incredibly confusing, and we don't find out why until right at the end that this is done intentionally.

The narrator, Mel Hudson, is one of Audible's jewels in the crown. She remembers and recreates every single individual voice of every character she brought to life in the other two books. Each character has their own individual way of speaking and her no-nonsense down to earth voice is perfect for Tchaikovsky's dry wit. She goes far beyond clear, expressive enunciation and actually *becomes* each character.

This is a strange and intriguing follow-up to the other two novels in the series. So strange in fact that it makes their complex plotlines look like a child's primer.
So confusing that you have to be gifted with the most surreal intelligence in order to even begin to understand it, and as I said, I had to listen to it twice before I got the full picture. You have to also listen to it with concentrated focused attention in order not to miss any vital little clues, which are sparingly sprinkled throughout the book. But even then, they don't lead to an ending that you could possibly guess, as Tchaikovsky has made the technology up out of his head!

In this book, the diverse team of spiders, octopi and protozoa, with the addition of the indomitable AI Avrana Kearne, are joined by two large speaking birds - the Corvids, picked up from the planet Rawk. Each of them has their own unique method of communication which is totally unlike any of the others (but luckily they have a translation algorithm). It's like a wild celebration of diversity without the self-conscious wokery.

All of them have handily developed the ability to assume a human form, in order to integrate into the local population of their new planet.

This time they find themselves on the barren and inhospitable planet Imir, with its failing ecosystem that is crumbling because its original primitive terraforming project had too little to work with. Their mission is to observe, learn, integrate and possibly try and use their advanced technology to help the people there survive. But they are missing an important piece of the puzzle.

Time runs REALLY WEIRDLY on Imir. It seems to jump backwards and forwards, even presenting a couple of alternative versions of reality, which is totally confusing for the reader.

The child Liff is a central character and the only one who is saved in the end. Liff is 26 years old (equivalent to 12 Earth years) throughout the entire story, which spans around 350 years. That's the first clue that something is profoundly weird here. She experiences the founding of Imir, sits on her grandfather Captain Heorest Holt's knee (he's the original founder) and listens to his stories of Earth. She also mourns his and her parents' deaths, never gets any older, is confused by her memories of different versions of the same events throughout the years, and suffers through Imir's eventual collapse 350 years later.

She miraculously resurrects from death when buried in a mudslide in the eroding landscape. She remembers events before they happen. This all rather drowns the enjoyment of the story in a welter of utter confusion for the poor listener. I was actually left wondering how good old Mel could continue cheerfully ploughing along when all the chapters seemed to have been shuffled around in the wrong order by some error, as if she had dropped the pages on the floor and hastily picked them up in a tangled heap, reading pages at random.

BUT.
Right at the end, the crew (who keep jumping between the planet and their ship in orbit around it without apparently attracting any attention from the locals - were they ever actually there at all???) discover what the hidden signal emanating from the planet actually IS.
We're told in the first chapter (but it's easy to miss it) that there's a signal coming from deep underground. Apparently (they discover in the last chapter) that it's a recording simulation machine that nosedived aeons before, from a civilisation even more ancient than Kearne's. Its job is to endlessly spool through Imir's human settlement's 350 year old history, replaying its recording over and over. We are then told that either the population never existed or that they are all part of the simulation or are long dead. But Liff still survives. (?!?!?) in a timeless confusing fashion, although it's still not clear whether she's an actual girl or just part of the recording.

She becomes the newest crew member as their ship jets off back through the galaxy in search of new planets.

So now you know how to make sense of this story... just accept that time is going to jump back and forth in an incomprehensible way and you'll be fine! Hopefully it will now be a little less confusing and a little more enjoyable!

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1 person found this helpful

Philosophical world building

A wonderfully detailed and highly philosophical account of existence, culture and relationships in the far future. Still prefer Children of Ruin though.

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Brilliant!

A fascinating, multi-layered story, and a wonderful exploration of what it means to be intelligent and sentient. I really enjoyed the narration too, Mel Hudson does a top class job. Thoroughly recommended.

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Another cracker!

IMHO Those with more life experience will enjoy this book the best yet in this trilogy. I simply cannot put down any of Tchaikovsky's books once I pick them up, this is another gem

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an excellent finish to the trilogy

bloody brilliant! thoroughly enjoyed. didn't expect how it would go at all. recommend all three books. sad have finished all of them

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Interesting if confusing

Like the previous book, this has fantastic ideas, but I'm not sure all of Adrian's readers are up for this sort of particular narrative that is so far removed from the context and setting of the initial book, and furthermore has a more confined scope than the 2nd.

Whilst the context of the uplifted races and the alien parasite organism are important to understanding characters, the narrative is broadly divorced from any universal narrative, like a holo-deck story from star-trek, at least without a 4th book tying this all together, I also had some problems visualizing elements like "Paul" and the party, and I think it's left hazy on purpose, but until it was clear why later in the book it just frustrated me.

Adrain has a habit of closing books on cliff-hangers "earth lives" "alien fortress" and does much the same here, do not expect to know more about either preceding cliff-hangers, I suspect they are to be left to our imaginations,

I don't mean to be so negative, let me say that the crows (introduced immediately) are a very fun element, and the characters are interesting as are their motives.

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Harder work than the others.

A good story but tries to do too much. It is so saturated with existential philosophising that it is forced to compensate with excessive repetition and exposition. I’m glad I persevered to the end and enjoyed it but I feel the editor could have asked the author to dial the esotericism down a notch.

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Brilliant SF - not to be missed

Reading SF for over 60 years this the best …..interweaving great story telling & philosophy….best summed up by WB quote “Imagination is the real and eternal world that this universe is but a faint shadow of “

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The Meaning of Liff

Excellent addition to the Children saga.
Leaning into a more philosophical tone the tale doesn't have quite the same 'wow' factor as the previous 'evolutionary' focused entries.

However, we still get the awesome evolved Corvid species and an enigmatic mystery to unravel.

The story is told with thoughtful insight and wry humor and is expertly read by Mel Hudson, whose delivery of the various voices is wonderful all round, but her Avrana Kern voice in particular is pitch perfect.

Fantastic.

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fascinating next (final?) chapter of the saga

A little confusing at first, until you begin to work out what may be happening. If you can work it out yourself, just bear with it until the end - it's worth it. like the previous books in this series, there's some really deep and thought-provoking story here.

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